NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday directed Manipur High Court Bar Association to confirm that counsels were not being prevented from appearing before the HC amid allegations of lawyers being targeted for representing a particular community.
A bench of CJI DY Chandrachud, Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Mishra – while sending a note of caution to all lawyers to ensure access to justice – said that any violation would amount to contempt of court.
“There are nine judicial districts which covers all sixteen districts in Manipur. The State of Manipur along with the Chief Justice of the HC shall ensure that video conference facility are set up and operationalised to ensure that any member of bar or litigant can address the court. The video conferencing shall be operationalised no later than one week of this order. The members of the bar shall ensure that no lawyer is prevented from appearing before the court. Any violation of this direction shall be treated as contempt,” the bench said.
The order was passed by the bench after considering submissions put forth by one of the counsels for the petitioners regarding lawyers prevented for representing members of a particular community.
Senior Advocate Anand Grover told the bench that advocates were being threatened, attacked, and prevented from appearing. “We do not intend to run the Manipur administration. You allow the process to work out,” CJI said.